“But not we men. We weren't fit to be told. For so you women think, and hug your mysteries, getting your backs on us for the slight God did in not creating you in His image.”

“...she looked like the sort of woman most men would want to get to know because they weren't sure what went on inside.”

“Each of us has something within us which won't be denied, even if it makes us scream aloud to die. We are what we are, that's all. Like the old Celtic legend of the bird with the thorn in its breast, singing its heart out and dying. Because it has to, its self-knowledge can't affect or change the outcome, can it? Everyone singing his own little song, convinced it's the most wonderful song the world has ever heard. Don't you see? We create our own thorns, and never stop to count the cost. All we can do is suffer the pain, and tell ourselves it was well worth it.”

“We're working-class people, which means we don't get rich or have maids. Be content with what you are and what you have.”

“But we, when we put the thorns in our breasts, we know. We understand. And still we do it. Still we do it.”

“The best thing about being 40 is that you can appreciate 25-year-old men more.”

“When we press the thorn to our chest we know, we understand, and still we do it.”